Friday, September 30, 2016

When you talk about GPS computers for bicycles it generally means that you are talking about "your garmin". It is like talking about"kleenex", which is really a brand name. But if I say, "hand me an unsanitary napkin", (because who blows their nose with a sanitary napkin, right?), you wouldn't know what I was talking about.
So, cyclists talk about their "garmins" this-and-that all the day long. and I suspect that this new gizmo I am getting will eventually just become "my garmin" as well. Anyway.......
The point is I am finally getting a GPS based cycling computer. Oh.......sorry! You probably have no idea what that is. I meant to say a "garmin" made by Lezyne, which is really called a "Super GPS", but everyone will think it is a "garmin", ya know?

Okay....okay! I'll give it a rest. Besides, this isn't the first time I will have had one of these beasts. Nope! Had one once. It was a 600 series.....you guessed it.... Garmin- and I thought it was ridiculously huge and overly complicated to use. Plus, it took about three to five minutes for it to access the satellites, which, you know, is about 2 minutes and 59 seconds too long for your riding buddies to wait for you, so I ditched it. Gave it to a friend.

So, I am trying this new fangled Lezyne unit out. I will be disappointed if it proves to be more fussy than a standard computer to run. Why? Because technology is often times actually more time consuming and more fiddly to use, which is kind of a step backwards, if you ask me. If, for instance, you have to do some song and dance every time you fire up a device, it isn't worth it. If you have to charge it more often than you use it, it is junk. If the menus are only understandable for computer designer geeks, than it is stupid. I won't keep this around for long if it ticks off my "keep it simple" mentality.

That said, it could be the greatest thing I've done in a long time for my bicycle. Time will tell. Stay tuned.......

Tomorrow I'll be riding this 100 miles.

Fat Bike Century:

Doing a century- 100 miles by bicycle- seems hair brained enough, but doing that on a fat bike? Yeah, I get why folks seem to think that is really daft. That said, it isn't impossible. Lots of folks do this distance on fat bikes and more all the time.
Besides, I've done three metric centuries on a fat bike in Winter at Triple D. Every time the conditions were challenging, and the work effort to do that event was a lot! Probably harder by far than the 100 mile route we have in store tomorrow. Another thing I've been asked is if I plan on using flats. Yes.....yes I do. I see no reason why that won't work like it did on my three Triple D finishes.
I may have to add a seat pack to this set up as the weather could be wet in spots. I guess there is a chance to see some showers. I may want my rain jacket for that, plus it gives me the option to shed a layer should I want to do that. Otherwise, I hope to get this rig cleaned up a bit, get my cues ready to go, and hit the road tomorrow morning. Expect a full report on Monday.

Velocity USA Consolidates Functions To The Mitten:Velocity USA is a rim, hub, and wheel company mostly. Well, they do have a pretty cool bottle cage too, but anyway, yeah.......mostly it has been about rims. I have used Velocity rims in my wheel builds since 1994 and have been very satisfied with anything I've used from Velocity. They used to be an Australian based manufacturer with an office in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Read "The Mitten"). Now production of rims has been Stateside since 2011, based in Jacksonville, FLA. That will change in December when Velocity consolidates all functions to its Grand Rapids, "The Mitten" World Headquarters.

I think it is a move that makes sense. Velocity says, "The move is expected to improve product delivery time by 7 to 10 days
while bringing specialized bicycle rim production jobs to Grand Rapids.
The factory will join Velocity’s current distribution and wheel
building facility. The combined facility will enhance research and
development capabilities and continue to build on Velocity’s reputation
for top-tier customer service by leveraging the state of Michigan’s long
history and reputation as an innovative manufacturing hub for the
United States."

Sounds like a good move to me. Now they just need a slogan. Something like, "Proudly Made by Hands in The Mitten".

T.I.v13 Registration Is Underway:

The first cards started rolling in for the registration for Trans Iowa v13 the other day. The process will continue throughout the month of October culminating on Halloween with the drawing for the Rookie class riders for next Spring's big dance. By the way, registration details can be reviewed HERE.
In other tidbits, I have been tweaking out the course a bit. So far I have about 326 miles mapped out. That will be adjusted a bit, I am sure, once recon happens. That should be in a couple of weeks from now. We're hoping a one day slog will suffice to get the course recon knocked out. It will be a long, long day either way. I'll have more stuff to share about T.I.v13 soon, but for now, that's all I can say.All righty then! Everyone try to get out and ride this weekend and have some fun!